Talking It Through
by Hallow Sisters On My Mind
Summary: Mildred overhears Ethel talking to her sister about how Mildred has ruined her life and gets upset, when she is caught she decides to confront Ethel but could these two ever understand one another? WW 2017. Oneshot.


A/N: I am going away for christmas so no updates now until the 27th. I do not own the worst witch or the characters.

* * *

 **Talking It Through**

Mildred was walking down the forth year corridor clutching Tabby her cat in her arms. Her cat had ran off which was the only reason the girl was down this corridor as she never had a need to go down here anywise.

Mildred was just about to reach the stairs when she suddenly heard a very familiar voice and realised it was Ethel, the girl only had to wonder for a second why the girl was down this corridor as she realised it made sense, after all Esmerelda was a forth year.

Mildred told herself to keep walking as if the girl was visiting her sister she wanted privacy but when Mildred heard a bit of conversation as she was passing the older girl's door she became super curious.

"Why does she hate me so much Esmie?" Mildred heard the younger blonde ask her sister. Mildred sneaked to the outside of the elder girl's bedroom door and put her ear to the door listening through a tiny crack.

"Mildred doesn't hate you Ethel, hate is much to strong a word" Mildred heard Esmerelda say and the dark haired girl had to cover her mouth to hide a gasp, when she had heard Ethel asking why she hated her she had thought the girl was speaking about her mother, but never her in a million years.

"Then why does she enjoy hurting me?" Ethel asked and Mildred was shocked to realise the girl was crying. Both girls were sat on the bed with their arms around each other as the youngest cried.

"She doesn't, Mildred doesn't mean to mess things up for you" Esmerelda replied sticking up for Mildred knowing that she doesn't hurt Ethel to be spiteful.

"I nearly didn't get into the school because of her!" Ethel replied as she cried more.

"Ethie how many times she wasn't to know that taking your ingredients would mess up your whole potion" Esmerelda told her sister as she rubbed her back.

"Oh she knew" Ethel replied "She had been speaking to Maud all day remember, it was her plan all along, she hated me and didn't want to deal with me at school so she planned to make me fail and then she would not have to cope with me and she also planned it so then Maud would be head of year" Ethel replied telling her sister exactly what she thought had happened.

Mildred stood outside listening her mouth hanging open in shock and she realised from what she could see Ethel was holding onto her sister's head of year belt tightly.

"I wanted to be head of year since I knew what Cackles was...why did she take it from me?" Ethel asked her sister squeezing the belt as she cried.

"Ethie, you are thinking to much into this" Esmerelda told her sister squeezing her more not knowing what else she could say.

"I am not, Mildred is that type of person who pretends to be sweet and innocent but she is really cruel and heartless and doesn't care if it does not benefit her or her friends" Ethel replied bitterly towards the dark haired girl.

"You don't mean that" Esmerelda replied knowing her sister was going a bit far.

"I do, everything in the end goes right for Mildred, everyone loves her, she gets everything in the end, even during the spelling bee...no-one even acted like I had helped us to win, they were giving all the credit to Mildred" Ethel replied crying more "And then she broke the trophy, and not to mention Ada loves her but couldn't care less about me, she even got offered a scholarship to Pentangles, someone like Mildred!" Ethel replied crying much worse now.

"Oh Ethie" Esmerelda replied with a sigh not knowing how to make her sister feel better, she couldn't make the girl more popular.

"It is not fair!" Ethel went on "I try so hard, I study for hours and hours and I still don't get anywhere I still don't get noticed, I hate Cackles and I hate Mildred!" Ethel shouted now through her sobs saying the last words with pure anger and hatred.

Mildred stood outside the door taking in everything that Ethel had said and felt really upset, she really did not hate Ethel she was upset Ethel really thought all that and she was really upset the girl hated Cackles when she should love the school, sometimes the school was hard for Mildred but she loved it, she knew they didn't get on but she didn't think Ethel hated her so much or that the girl thought everything was perfect for her. Mildred then found herself crying as everything Ethel had said sunk in.

* * *

"What is that?" Ethel asked her sister as she heard someone sobbing.

Esmerelda stood up and opened her bedroom door to find Mildred stood there crying. Realising Mildred had being listening to her private conversation Ethel reacted the only way she knew how – with anger.

"Oh of course you were listening, go on go tell your little friends what I said, go mirror your mummy I don't care anymore" Ethel shouted at Mildred angrily.

"Ethie calm down" Esmerelda told her sister. She was not exactly happy Mildred had been listening outside her door but shouting at each other was not going to help especially as both her sister and Mildred were crying.

"No" Ethel replied not listening "If you were listening you clearly want to know the truth don't you Mildred? Okay then here it goes, I study for hours and hours a day, I study so much I barely have time to sleep yet you still get all the credit for everything through luck how is that fair?" Ethel yelled at her.

"Well.." Mildred started but was interrupted.

"Everyone in the entire school loves you, Miss Cackle, Miss Hardbroom, all the pupils, you are so popular yet you can barely take a step without tripping up" Ethel went on getting more and more harsh.

"And you always managed to be the hero, guess what I got for rescuing my sister? A pat on the head, you got a reward for services for the school" Ethel went on needing to get it all out.

Mildred was about to point out it might of being because it was her fault Esmerelda needed rescuing in the first place but she didn't have time as Ethel spoke again.

"Everything I have wanted you have taken from me, The head of year position, the spelling bee reward, my perfect grade for my entrance exam you took that,it was all down to you!" Ethel yelled at Mildred, tears falling fast down her face.

"And let us not forget, perfect friends and the most perfect mother in the world, it must be nice having such a perfect family" Ethel yelled at Mildred.

Mildred was sensitive about her family as it was but especially when Ethel went on about how perfect it was...the girl had no idea.

"You know nothing!" Mildred shouted back at the last comment "You two think my family is so perfect because my mother happens to be loving and yours isn't, don't you realise I have no-one else? She is my only living family member so yes I think I do deserve a loving mother or I would have no one who loves me in my family, not to mention my mother has to work all these stupid hours just to keep us alive so I don't even get to see her much, we can't all have the luxury of being rich" Mildred shouted taking her frustrations about out Esmerelda as well who stood there awkwardly.

"I don't have any family member that loves me so stop turning it back to you!" Ethel shouted as Esmerelda stood there looking really hurt by her sisters comment, Mildred saw this and really wondered if Ethel was actually that blind.

"Oh for flaming sake! Are you blind or just stupid! You have Esmerelda don't you? Ethel she mothers you all the time and she is your sister, you get a sister and mother in one so stop complaining!" Mildred shouted at her.

Ethel stared at Mildred in complete and utter shock at that comment which is how Mildred realised Ethel really was clueless, she really had no idea at all, Esmerelda had a expression that Mildred could not read as she did not know the older girl well enough. Ethel suddenly turned to look at Esmerelda who seemed to be crying now as well, great, Mildred thought to herself, now all of them were off.

"But...Esmie can't be both" Ethel replied quietly clearly struggling to understand how Esmerelda could be her mother and her sister.

"Says who?" Mildred replied "She loves you like a mother so why not?" Mildred asked not understanding what was so strange about it, people were friends and sisters or mother and daughters could be friends as well so why could Esmerelda not be a mother and sister?

Esmerelda and Ethel fell completely silent at that and Mildred knew what she had said was still sinking in.

"I don't hate you Ethel, I did not mean to mess up your potion and I know it seems everything goes right for me but it really doesn't, the problem with you Ethel is you take everything way to seriously and you think the world is against you to the point you never let anyone in, if we have a bad relationship that is down to you, you started on me at the entrance exam from the second you met me" Mildred said through her tears wanting more than anything just to help Ethel. She had no idea why but in a way she always felt they had a special connnection.

Ethel had not spoken since Mildred had basically told the girl her mother was Esmerelda and Mildred was afraid she had said to much so what came out of Ethel's mouth next shocked her to no end.

"I couldn't help it...I was so terrified..." Ethel replied quietly looking at the floor but causing Mildred to raise her head.

"Terrrifed...of what?" Mildred asked not understanding what Ethel meant.

"Everything...my exam...letting my family down...having to interact with people...the last is probably the one I was terrified of most...I told myself I was okay when I got to school and then I saw Esmie and I knew I would be fine" Ethel said lovingly looking at her sister before turning back to Mildred and changing her tone.

"But then Cackle and HB told me to basically not even try as Esmerelda was better than me at everything and I would never reach her level... and then it came back...my feelings of self-hatred and anger...I have never being good with other people...people have always thought I was strange and meeting new people scares me...I never know what to say... a lot of the time I want to appear like I am in control so I want to talk but I end up saying the completely wrong thing...Ethel finished telling Mildred some truths about her. Ethel basically admitted how terrified she was at social contact.

Mildred could not help standing there with her mouth hanging open, Ethel terrified of social interaction? But the girl always seemed way to over confident and then there was what she had said about Cackle and HB ...they had terrified the poor girl so much she ended up saying something stupid and why would they say something like that to her before her exam?

"I never realised..." Mildred admitted having never realised that about Ethel before.

"Yes well...I come across as confident but I am not, I have messed up so many times around people because of my nerves, it is one of my biggest flaws" Ethel told Mildred honestly and Mildred listened but somehow she thought Ethel was way to hard on herself. Mildred found herself walking closer to the blonde.

"You are really really smart, you have a lot of courage, you tell people the truth even if it does hurt.." Mildred started to say as Ethel looked up at her confused.

"The real problem with you Ethel is you fail to see anything but your flaws, you are way to hard on yourself, you have good things about you Ethel but you normally hide them away and show people your flaws" Mildred told Ethel truthfully. Ethel just stared at Mildred shocked.

"Tell me something you like about yourself" Mildred asked Ethel wanting the girl to stop putting herself down.

Ethel; shrugged clearly not able to think of anything ..."My hair...that is it" Ethel told Mildred the thing she liked and Mildred sighed knowing this was going nowhere fast so instead she turned to the older sister and looked at her needing Ethel to hear something good about herself.

"Esmerelda what do you love about Ethel" Mildred asked the girl who was still crying but looked at Ethel before replying.

"Well there is lots of things" Esmerelda told Mildred.

"Name some" Mildred replied needing Ethel to understand she was worth something.

"Well...how she doesn't take rubbish from anyone, she is way more brave than I will ever be, she makes me laugh and smile, she is pretty and smart, she knows when she has gone to far" Esmerelda said naming a few things she loved about her sister. Ethel looked at her clearly listening intently.

"See Ethel you do have good aspects about yourself" Mildred told Ethel smiling now.

Mildred beamed more as she saw the corners of Ethel's mouth move into a smile a little before she spoke.

"I am sorry Mildred for being such a idiot these last two years" Ethel told Mildred and the dark-haired girl smiled. A apologise was a start especially from Ethel.

"You are not a idiot Ethel, you are just hurting that is all" Mildred told Ethel beaming at her finally starting to understand what was going on in the girl's head.

"I don't hate you...I guess I was jealous because you had everything" Ethel admitted to Mildred not seeing a reason to hide it anymore.

"Well I am jealous of you for knowing so much about witchcraft so we both win on that one" Mildred replied thinking she must as well be honest as well.

"I really am sorry" Ethel apologised again to her.

"That is okay Ethel, really it is" Mildred replied as she smiled at the blonde before making a suggestion.

"Why don't we try to be friends instead of hating each other?" Mildred suggested to Ethel, Mildred was not the type of person who did not believe a bad start with someone could not be fixed and there was something there about Ethel Mildred wanted to get to know better.

"You would want to be friends with me?" Ethel asked amazed at that.

"Yes, I think you are quite interesting actually, you can help me know more about the witching world and I can help you with your confidence" Mildred suggested thinking if they tried her and Ethel really could be friends. They were polar opposites but that was why it would work.

"Thank you Mildred, yes we can try" Ethel told her with a smile. A proper smile. It was only when she turned around she realised Esmerelda was still crying and Mildred knew then it was her cue to leave.

"I will see you around later I have to go" Mildred said waving as she walked out the room saying goodbye to the sisters.

* * *

Ethel looked at her sister as Mildred left not knowing what to say to her after what Mildred had said, there was only one thing she could think of to say.

"I love you too" Ethel said the four words she knew she wanted her sister to hear.

Esmerelda smiled at her and rushed over to hug her sister, for the first time Ethel realising Mildred Hubble was right about having a sister and mother in one and cuddling into Esmerelda beaming. Mildred had not only helped Ethel with loving her inner self that day but realising she really did have someone who loves her.

Mildred left the bedroom grinning from ear to ear, she had just gained a friend in Ethel Hallow and she had helped both girls realise what they meant to each other, it had been a good day and somehow she thought that they would have more amazing days like this.


End file.
